Date of message: 29 June 2003

Subject: The Perfect Covenant

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
Most of us are familiar with the term "contract" as we would have entered into one at some point of our lives. We would enter into a purchase contract when we pick something up and pay for it at the supermarket. For those of us who are employed, we have a contractual agreement with the company that hires us.
In a contract, as long as there is consideration (usually financial) given by one party to the other and the consideration is accepted, the contract becomes legally binding on all parties who have interest in the contract. Any breach of the terms of the contract would be met by punishment and is generally financial again.
The Bible uses a strong legal term - covenant - instead of contract or agreement. The Bible calls the promise made by God a covenant. In a covenant, the two parties are bound by the terms specified therein and it is generally terminated or discharged by the death of one party. Therefore covenants are more permanent in nature compared to contracts.
There are a number of covenants found in the Bible: -

Name of Covenant and Reference God's Promise Sign Given
In Garden of Eden
(Genesis 3: 15) Satan and mankind will be enemies Pain of childbirth
Noah
(Genesis 9: 8-17) God would never again destroy the earth with a flood Rainbow
Abraham
(Genesis 15: 12-21; 17: 1-4) Abraham's descendants would become a great nation if they obeyed God. God would be their God forever. Smoking oven and burning torch
At Mount Sinai
(Exodus 19: 5, 6) Israel would be God's special people, a holy nation. But they would have to keep their part of the covenant - obedience The Exodus
The Priesthood
(Numbers 25: 10-13) Aaron's descendants would be priests forever. The Aaronic priesthood
David
(2 Samuel 7: 13; 23: 5) Salvation would come through David's line through the birth of the Messiah David's line continued and the Messiah was born a descendant of David.
New Covenant Forgiveness and salvation are available through faith in Christ. Christ's resurrection.
Here I would like to share on the covenant that God cut with Abraham and we can find the text in Genesis 15: 9-21: -
9. So the Lord said to Abram, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat and a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10. Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13. Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17. And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates -
19. the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

In the days of the Old Testament, two tribal chiefs would enter into a covenant for friendship and for mutual protection. Benefits from one side would pass freely over to the other party who may have a lack; likewise the party who was attacked by an external enemy would be able to call upon the services of the covenant friend and he would be required to go to the besieged friend's aid.
There would have been the shedding of blood to seal the covenant and once the covenant had been sealed, none of the parties involved would be able to break the covenant and live. Shedding of life would have been the normal consequence of the breach.

The Lord told Abram (later his name was changed to Abraham, the father of a multitude) to bring five offerings and to kill the sacrifices and split them in halves except for the two birds for which he was to kill them and to leave them intact. It is interesting that Abraham brought the five types of sacrifices as the very act signified his obedience to God's command. In the Bible, one can find many instances of the number 'five' appearing and it is significant to note that when the action came from God, it is always associated with His bounteous grace towards mankind but when the action was from man, it signified his obedience to God's grace and mercy.

From the five sacrifices, Abraham split the animals into two and hence we note there were a total of eight pieces of the sacrifices laid out on the ground. The number 'eight' in the Bible signified new beginnings (Jesus rose from the dead on the eighth day of the week; Abraham was commanded to circumcise his son Isaac on the eighth day after he was born). And so we see that because of the obedience of Abraham in response to the grace of our Lord, there is a new beginning; a new covenant was established.

The halves of the animals were laid out on the ground with a passage-way in between them and it is a custom in those days that the two parties to the covenant would walk in between the pieces in a 'figure of eight' manner thus proclaiming to each other that should there be a breach of the covenant by any of the two parties, then the guilty one would be killed and parted like the pieces of the animal sacrifices. The whole 'initiation' ceremony was a solemn one as the stakes were high.

Praise the Lord that Abraham was not party to the initiation ceremony as the Lord caused a deep sleep to overcome him. And while Abraham was fast asleep, something spectacular happened. In Genesis 15: 17 it is written that a 'smoking oven and a burning torch' went through the pieces of the sacrifices.
Two Supreme Beings came and performed the ceremony - God the Father appeared as the 'smoking oven' and our Lord Jesus came as a 'burning torch'. Jesus took the place of Abraham as only He could keep the covenant with God. Had Abraham performed the ceremony as himself, there would not have been any covenant to start with since he could never have kept the covenant alone. But praise Jesus He came and He stood in Abraham's place and He kept the covenant to the very end. Jesus took our place and died on our behalf as we have all sinned and we fall short of God's standard. All of us deserve to die for failing the mark but Jesus fulfilled the covenant and died in our place and we have been set free from the terms of the covenant. What is left is to continue to enjoy the benefits of the covenant - the bounteous blessings of the Father are now ours to enjoy.

Abraham tried to keep the vultures away from the animal carcasses (Genesis 15: 11). He thought that he was able to perform under the terms of the covenant by staying the vultures from picking on the dead sacrifices but God had to cause a deep sleep to come over him. God never intended for man to have any part to do under the terms of the covenant. Man's part has always been to simply enjoy the blessings that go along with it. The vultures represented evil and man can never keep evil away no matter how hard he tries; he cannot but God can and He had already conquered the evil one when He died on the cross for us.

Jesus loves us so much that He came and took our place in the covenant. Because He came as a man, He was able to legally die for us under the terms of the covenant and the devil could not cry foul. The judicious side of the Father was met when Jesus the Righteous One took our place and because of His death, whatever that belong to Him now come to us in a super-abundant manner.

Have you placed your faith in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus? Received Jesus into your life and He will come into your heart and give you eternal life. By believing in Jesus and receiving His Holy Spirit into our lives, God confers on us the position of sons and daughters in His Family, special positions reserved only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1: 12). The price had already been paid and the benefits will flow once the decision to receive Him is made.

The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks come to pass and He had promised us in the Bible that those who have put their trust in Him will not be condemned but have passed from death into life (Romans 8: 1).

The choice is yours to make; choose Jesus and therefore choose life. Rejection of what Jesus had accomplished on the cross would signify rejection of the only Person who can save us from our sin. Time is running out fast and soon Jesus will be coming back to take His children home. When that happens, all the Believers in Christ will rise up to heaven to meet Him there and only those who have not received Him into their hearts will remain. You can read about this catching away of the Church' in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18.

Pray this simple prayer of faith and invite Jesus into your heart. Immediately you will experience the peace of Jesus coming your way.

O Father, our Heavenly Father, thank you that You loved me so much that You sent Your Only Beloved Son to come and to die for us on the cross even while we were still sinners. Thank you that You did not wait for our obedience but You took the first step in sending Jesus to die for us. Thank you that His death so satisfied You that Jesus became a curse for me so that I can receive all His blessings.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You loved us so much that You were willing to die for us on the cross. Thank you that You became that Sacrificial Lamb for us and because of Your death, the judicial righteousness of the Father had been satisfied. And now, because You rose from the dead, we, who believe in You as our Lord and Savior, will no longer have to die but we receive Your eternal life. Thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your home.

Thank you that what You have accomplished for us on the cross has qualified me to become a child of God the Father. Thank you that I am now eternally forgiven, greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved and completely protected in the Lord and in Your most precious Name, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray. Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith. It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these blessings right now and there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 -26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

This and other archived messages can also be found on the following URL
http://www.oocities.org/fibredrive/index.htm

This issue marks the 100th message since July 03, 2001 and the Lord has been faithfully supplying all our needs and wants.
Thank you for the patience in reading all my previous articles
All praise to His wonderful Name.